First-Time Landlord's Guide to Letting in Surrey

Letting a property for the first time comes with more legal obligation than most new landlords expect. It's not just finding a tenant and collecting rent — there's a real compliance checklist, and getting it wrong can be expensive.

Before you can legally let a property, you need a valid gas safety certificate (renewed annually), an EICR electrical safety report (every 5 years), a valid EPC (every 10 years), and — depending on the property — smoke and carbon monoxide alarms correctly fitted. Deposits must be registered with a government-approved scheme within 30 days of receipt. None of this is optional, and none of it is a one-time task — each certificate has its own renewal clock.

Tenant referencing is the other place first-time landlords most often cut corners, usually because it feels like it's slowing things down when a good tenant is ready to move in quickly. We use Vouch for referencing on every tenancy we place, which checks affordability, employment, previous landlord history and credit — included as standard, not an optional extra, because a bad tenant costs vastly more than the time it takes to check properly.

On management: you can self-manage, use a tenant-find-only service, or go fully managed. Fully managed (10% of monthly rent, or 12% including rent protection insurance) covers marketing, referencing, rent collection, maintenance coordination and ongoing compliance tracking — for most first-time landlords, particularly anyone not local or not wanting a 9pm call about a broken boiler, this is the difference between letting being genuinely passive income and it being a part-time job.

Rent protection insurance is worth a specific mention: it covers your income if a tenant falls behind, plus legal costs and eviction support if things go seriously wrong. It's the closest thing to genuine peace of mind in the lettings business, and we'd recommend it to any landlord letting a property for the first time.

We're currently offering new landlords their first month of full management completely free. If you're considering letting a property in Windlesham, Ascot, Sunningdale or the surrounding areas for the first time, get in touch — we're happy to talk through what's actually involved before you commit to anything.